Centre places Delhi development plan before SC

The Centre places before the Supreme Court a roadmap for planning and development of Delhi, reports Satya Prakash.

The Centre has placed before the Supreme Court a roadmap for planning and development of Delhi proving for flexible mixed land use, private sector participation in housing, better transport, parking facilities and supply of power and water to the residents.

In an affidavit filed in the court, the Union Ministry of Urban Development emphasised the need for conservation of natural resources and creation of a sustainable physical and social environment in view of rapid urbanisation of Delhi on an unprecedented scale.

During the hearing of cases relating to sealing of commercial premises in residential areas of the city, the court had on November 23, 2006 pulled up the government for its failure to carry out planned development of Delhi in the last over four decades. It had asked the Centre to spell out its road map for future planning taking due care of parking, electricity and water supply and its impact on the environment.

Stating that the Master Plan for Delhi 2021 was in the finalisation stage, the Centre placed on record major portions of the draft of the new Master Plan, which has since been approved and is expected to be notified by mid-February.

It said that private sector participation in land development and housing has been envisaged and housing for urban poor shall be about 50 per cent of the total dwelling units to come up in future.

There will be a shift from plotted housing to group housing, besides removal of height control in certain categories for optimum utilisation of land, it added.

There will be emphasis on integrated multi-modal transportation system, redevelopment along mass rapid transport corridors and provision for multi-level and under-ground parking, it said.

Common parking areas would be earmarked on mixed use/commercial streets taking into account the additional load on traffic and parking consequent upon notification of streets under mixed-use policy, the Centre said.

Referring to the controversial notifications of September 7 and 15, 2006 by which mixed land use was permitted along 2183 streets, it said that only those roads will be allowed to have commercial activities in which 100 sq mts of land was earmarked for parking.

However, the Centre pointed out that a draft parking policy prepared by the Delhi Government with inputs from MCD, NDMC, DDA, Delhi Traffic Police and Transport Department was already pending before the court for approval.

It said that the total requirement of water has been estimated by the DDA to be at 1380 MGD for the projected population of 2.3 crore in Delhi by 2021 and there will be a shortfall of 440 MGD. The shortfall would be met by receiving water from Renuka Dam on river Giri in Himachal Pradesh and Kishau and Lakhwar Vyasi Dams on rivers Tons and Yamuna respectively in Uttarakhand, it added.

On the question of improving the power supply to meet the projected demand of 8800 MW by 2021, the Centre said over six agreements had been entered into with various power corporations. Besides, separate agreements have also been signed with states like Orissa, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh to augment power supply during peak seasons.

The Center said that in the urban extension plan for 2021, the green cover was to be provided at the rate of 15 per cent of the total land in addition to ridge and regional parks. Measures for rejuvenating the Yamuna and making the existing drainage basins self-sustainable and rain water harvesting has also been proposed.